1. Field of Invention
The present invention generally relates to a recreational vehicle, (“RV”) service compartment sealing shroud, referred to as a “sewage sock” in the above referenced provisional patent application, for blocking the port in a panel of the service compartment of a recreational vehicle through which a sewage hose connects to an external sewage line for discharging waste and waste water.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the camping industry, RV's are popular camping vehicles. As used herein, the term RV encompasses both motorized motorhomes, towables, i.e. campers that are towed behind a car, van or pickup, and truck-bed mounted campers that are often referred to in the art as wheel-less campers. As opposed to camping in a pitched tent, camping in an RV provides many of the conveniences of being at home or staying in a hotel. In this regard, in the field of RV's it is known that an RV typically provides kitchen, and frequently, bathroom facilities, along with electrical service for lights, heating, air-conditioning, and other electrical amenities, and may also provide cable and/or Wi-Fi access for television viewing and Internet access. Additionally, an RV frequently includes a storage tank for used water, often referred to as gray water, from the kitchen and bathroom facilities. This gray water storage must be dumped at a dumping station frequently found at campsites that accommodate RV's. Further, in addition to a central dumping station, many camping facilities that accommodate RV's have sewage connections at each campsite. These provisions require water lines, electrical and other utility line access, and a drain hose which is provided for draining gray water. These various lines and hoses will be generically referred to as “conduit” herein. These connections are often located in a service compartment that has external access.
Further, it is known that when a user of an RV is staying in a campground that provides for these types of “hook-ups,” at each camp site, the RV may have various conduits extending through one or more panels in the service compartment for an extended period of time. It is known in the art, that these access points, which conveniently provide access to the RV's utility needs, also provide vermin, such as snakes, mice, rats, and/or insects, with access to the interior of the RV. This potential for vermin having access to the interior of the RV is both unsanitary, as vermin spread various diseases some of which are life-threatening, and can result in costly property damage. And, there are various devices known in the art which are intended to prevent the intrusion of vermin into the interior, habitable portions of an RV. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 8,128,132, issued to Cravens on Mar. 6, 2012, discloses a pest control seal for an RV which comprises a relatively soft and resilient foam material which is compressed into the annular opening between a conduit and the passage in the wall or panel of the service compartment of the RV. According to Cravens, Cravens' seal also serves to preclude abrasion of the hose due to the hard edge of the surrounding hose passage. Further, Cravens' device must be secured by of fasteners, such as screws, which are driven into the panel of the service compartment. Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,417,460 issued to Lunder on May 23, 1995, discloses an apparatus for attaching and securing a drain hose to the adapter used with an RV waste drain assembly. And, U.S. Pat. No. 4,758,027, issued to Todd on Jul. 19, 1988, discloses an adapter for coupling a flexible corrugated RV drainpipe to a sewage disposal site inlet.
What is missing from the art is a sewage shroud that substantially prevents entrance of vermin into the interior of an RV through the service compartment which is readily installable without the need for driving fasteners into the panels of the service compartment.